


Rumours

by tsukinotsurugi (forgetfulAmoeba)



Series: eruriweek 2019 [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, a touch of angst, canonverse, dealing with ghosts, eruriweek2019, mentions of a particular canon character death, post RtS
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 10:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20424557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetfulAmoeba/pseuds/tsukinotsurugi
Summary: There are rumours, that Shiganshina is haunted.





	Rumours

**Author's Note:**

> aka I took a prompt and ran with it the wrong way
> 
> Please suspend your powers of disbelief if details in the story do not mesh :D

There are rumours, that Shiganshina is haunted.

It's been a couple of years since people have moved back to reinhabit the town, rebuilding homes and businesses, bringing the place back to life. That sometimes murmuring voices or confused shouts can be heard on the streets, or the high pitched whirr of wires being deployed and swung up on. But the residents of Shiganshina are a hardy folk and take such whispers not only in their stride, but as a matter of pride, that they are worthy of the reminders of the cost of getting their homes back, boasting of their hard won freedom. 

Ghosts and the spirits of the dead are nothing new to the Survey Corps either. Invoking the memory of lost friends for a little help in present endeavours is a common enough practice. Sure Hange joked about it all the time, anytime someone came up with a brilliant strategy, or there was an unusual stroke of luck, that it was thanks to Erwin pulling strings behind the scenes.

But one rumour has Levi particularly distressed.

That apparently on the predawn of the night after the new moon, the spectre of the last charge can be seen, Survey Corps soldiers flying out past the gate on their horses, smoke signals obscuring the view of their passage.

That couldn't be true, could it?

He'd retrieved Erwin's bones long before the go-ahead for Shiganshina to be repopulated. He'd always thought of Erwin as being back with them at the base, and at peace. Surely he couldn't still be out lost in the wilds by Shiganshina, doomed to ride forever.

As soon as he can he gets leave to head out to Shiganshina for a few days at the timing that matters to investigate.

He makes good time and arrives in early enough in the day with a few hours to spare. Unsure of what to do with the time, he decides he might as well have a walk around to see if he can pick up on any of the rumours.

Hearing nothing that catches his attention as he walks the streets, on a whim he decides to go to the house where he had left Erwin's body. It is now a fully occupied residence from the sounds of it, and he knocks on the door, asking the quizzical if harried looking woman who answers politely if he could have a look at the room upstairs. When she confirms that she is not in any sort of trouble and that the esteemed Captain Levi merely has a spot of nostalgia for a building that played a key role in the battle (although in what capacity he explains that he is unable to elaborate as it is a confidential military matter), she agrees to show him around, with the attendant gaggle of young children more than delighted to accompany them.

The room is completely transformed as a bedroom for a couple of the children; where it was austere it is now bright and cheerful, the beds made up with colourful quilts and well used toys scattered around. There is no sign that it was once the resting place of one very beloved commander.

_You're not still here are you?_

The kids in the meantime quiz him enthusiastically on life in the Survey Corps, on rumours of people from outside the walls and their strange new foods, that they are building all these new and wonderful things, and he assures them that it is all good and that they might even be able to see some of the results of the inventions soon enough themselves. Thanking the woman of the house while she tries to shoo the children away, he tries asking if she knows of anything of the supernatural occurrences in the town, but she shakes her head smiling and says that it is all stuff and nonsense, likely made up by people with nothing better to do, or perhaps to earn a spot of fame for their town, and she hasn't experienced anything out of the ordinary herself.

Next he heads to the local barracks, taking the invitation to have his evening meal together in the mess hall as an opportunity to interview the garrison troops stationed here on stories of the phantom death charge, with some fully believing in the tale while others attribute the phenomenon to the fog that rolls in naturally at that time of the night, backlit by the scant predawn light. Certainly no one has gone down to take a look.

Night-time finally comes around, and he sets out with the evening patrol, assuring them that he intends to observe from the top of the wall. But after the last watch of the night goes past he slips down the wall onto the plain itself.

Seating himself by a rock in the ground he passes the time humming some tunes that may or may not have been sung to him by his mother while he toys with his favourite knife, reminiscing about things leading to and since the fateful turn of events here. He's supposed to be keeping watch but finds himself nodding off a couple of times, eyes closing over before he starts up again, and he decides it would be more prudent to get up and take a walk. It's starting to get cold and he wraps his cloak tightly around himself as he sets out in the direction of the wall. But after a short distance, he's completely lost his bearings as a fog that he had not noticed earlier was now completely surrounding him with a clammy greyness, dulling all sight and sound. He scrambles around frantically for a few moments before a surprising sound stops him short.

_Levi?_

That voice. He knows it, although as he turns desperately to find the source all he sees is more grey fogginess.

_Erwin? Is that you? You're here aren't you? Why?_

And the question that's really pressing on his mind, the one that he dreads the answer to...

_Are you still here because there's something... preventing you from going?_

There is a gentle laugh.

_Straight to the point as always, aren't you? No, I'm not trapped here, if that's what you're asking, tied to this earth when I should be moving on. Although it is the case for some of them. When things happened too fast for some to process. And for others, in denial of what happened._

_I'd been granted leave to remain to help them, as their Commander. To keep watch._

_Levi? I had no regrets._

_I know you gave your word and I am satisfied._

_And Levi? Once again, thank you._

The fog starts to lighten and dissipate.

Wait! He shouts, or thinks that he does, in that vague dreamy way, and stumbles in the direction of the voice, his steps too light, as if he's floating. What?

Something's not right.

He opens his eyes and quickly shuts them again: the early morning light, though thin and grey, is still too bright for his unaccustomed eyes. He's curled on his side wrapped up in his cloak, back where he had seated himself in the first place, as if he'd never gotten up at all but instead fallen asleep and dreamt. And in the distance, the rumble of steadily approaching hoofbeats.

Oh.

He sits up and looks around, trying to piece events together, but his head feels heavy and much too fuzzy and details slippery when he tries to chase after them. He should feel alarmed that he doesn't remember what happened but he doesn't, in fact, the one thing that stands out for him is how peaceful he feels. He shakes his head, and gives up on trying to understand. 

Although he cannot explain why, he believes that Erwin is at peace, and happy. 

Although he wishes that he had something to hold on to the feeling that is already fading.

As he stands up to meet the approaching party, something falls from his cloak. Picking it up, he smiles. 

It is a bellflower.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologise for this ghastly piece of writing xp
> 
> And in other completely irrelevant information, I found out that the collective noun for children is apparently:  
An ingratitude of children


End file.
